


Rescue Bots Extreme Shred

by Bionic (Vexza)



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime, Transformers: Rescue Bots
Genre: Dissociation, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, Prosthetics, Short Fics, boulder running from the cops - Freeform, various bots getting upset for various reasons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-08
Updated: 2016-04-23
Packaged: 2018-04-19 17:31:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 7,102
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4755017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vexza/pseuds/Bionic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Various Rescue Bots shortfics. Content varies, will update tags if need be.</p><p>ch 8: Graham can't sleep. Again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Outran the Law

**Author's Note:**

> if you're wondering why this collection of shortfics is named after a workout video, then you should know its because i havent written in forever and need to practice more.

Graham rubbed a firm hand over the back of his neck and tried to crack it- a futile endeavor. Now that the whirlwind of the day’s activities had subsided, he had time to reflect that this probably hadn’t been his craziest day on the job; it just seemed that way at the moment. Perhaps it had been because their first call had come in at 2 am, and their last call, which they were just returning home from, had reached them right as the sun had begun to sink below the watery horizon.

“Tired?” Boulder rumbled to him quietly.

Graham offered the screen on the dashboard a tired smile. “This is still nothing compared to grad school.”

Boulder chuckled softly and allowed a comfortable silence to fall. The bots may not have needed sleep, but it was easy to see that the bulldozer was tired too; if not from sleep deprivation, then from exertion. Graham leaned back in his seat, not even pretending to drive. They’d be home soon, and then they’d get some _much_ needed rest…

The human engineer was startled out of his almost dream-like trance by Boulder’s sudden gasp. He immediately sat up and looked around for signs of trouble- surely not every citizen in Griffin Rock could experience a life or death situation on the same day…?

“I just ran a stop sign.” Boulder said gravely, by way of explanation.

Graham stared at the screen, caught between bewilderment and an unexplainable sense of dread. “What?”

That was when he heard it. _The sirens_.

“Oh no.” Graham muttered, half to himself, as he noticed the red and blue lights in the rearview mirror.

Chase had been following them back from the emergency call, but Graham didn’t think that Chase would really… actually, that was a lie. Of course Chase would.

Meanwhile, in the cop bot’s cab, Chief was giving the dashboard screen a skeptical look. “Are you sure this is strictly necessary, Chase?”

“Of course, Chief.” Chase replied, cool as can be. “Boulder knows he’s required to come to a full and complete stop at all stop signs and stop lights. He very clearly did not.”

“That’s a relatively minor offense, Chase.” Chief reasoned. “Usually we’ll let them off with a warning unless they endanger someone. Can’t you just talk to him when we get home?”

“Unfortunately no, Chief.” Chase maintained. “While I understand that you sometimes choose to exercise discretion in the application of the law, Boulder is a member of the rescue team. He should be held to a higher standard than the average citizen.”

Frowning, Chief sat back and tried to come up with a logical argument against that.

Behind them, Heatwave had also slowed to a crawl, and the two firemen were quite bewildered by the sight before them.

“Is he malfunctioning or something?” Kade asked in a hushed whisper.

Heatwave was silent for a moment, as if he was contemplating that very possibility himself, before he suddenly burst out; “He’s trying to pull Boulder over!”

From there, the two quickly dissolved into raucous laughter.

“Aren’t you going to pull over?” Graham asked after a solid minute or two had gone by.

“What? No.” Boulder continued to make his way down the street, unperturbed.

There was a beat of silence. “Why not?” Graham pressed, almost afraid of the answer.

“He’ll never catch me alive,” was the whispered response.

“ _Boulder_.” Graham’s admonition was lost as Boulder cranked up the speed to a whopping 10 mph.

“He’s trying to run.” Chase reported severely to Chief. Chief examined the bulldozer before him critically.

“I think we’ll catch him.” Chief replied hopefully.

Meanwhile, Heatwave had opened a private comm channel to Blades and Dani just so the four of them could laugh at the whole situation together.

Eventually, miraculously, Boulder did stop at the firehouse garage doors. He transformed and gave Chase a sheepish glance, and made up some excuse about how he had had his audials turned off the whole time. Graham, who had had a long day and had already considered tucking and rolling out of Boulder’s cab and walking home, simply went upstairs without a word. Blades, Heatwave, and their respective partners tried and failed to control their amusement and quickly dispersed out of fear of drawing Chase’s ire.

By morning, it had been determined that, since Graham had not actually been driving at the time of the incident, Chase could not rightfully cite him for the infraction; neither could he ticket Boulder, since it was impossible for Boulder to appear in court or pay a fine. Thus, the officer mandated that Boulder complete four hours of community service in the park.

No one had the heart to point out that that’s probably what Boulder would have done on his day off anyways.


	2. Swine Flu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oh my god this chapter was supposed to be frankie and chase centric WHY DID I NOT WRITE MORE im sorry

"Chief?"

"Yeah, Chase?"

"I'm concerned about Francine Greene's health."

Chief bit back the urge to heave a heavy sigh; he had seen this coming from a mile away. Ever since Cody had come home from school and mentioned offhand that Frankie had been home sick, Chase had been on edge. That much was crystal clear.

"I know you are, Chase." He replied, trying not to sound as exasperated as he felt. He tried to be sympathetic. After all, Chase hadn't really said anything yet, and the poor bot was merely worried about Frankie's health. "She's going to be fine, she probably just has a little cold- or at the worst, having a bout with the flu."

Chief almost flinched, realizing his mistake. Chase's optics had widened noticeably at the mention of the 'flu'. Perhaps he could have chosen his words a little more carefully. Well, it was too late to take back now.

After Kade had been benched with a case of the flu and the rest of the Burnses had gotten sniffly by proxy, Chase had been a bit on edge concerning human diseases. It wasn't something Chief had discussed at length with his partner, but if he had to guess, he would think that Chase had researched the topic of illness a bit too extensively and had stumbled across some of the nastier diagnoses. All he knew for certain though was that Chase had cornered Kade in the firehouse and tried to feed him soup and vitamins, and then tried to forcibly entrap the fireman in a blanket cocoon. According to Kade, the encounter had been the most frightening thing any of the bots had done since Heatwave started roaring at the local wildlife. Luckily, Chase seemed to calm down after Kade got better and Chief purchased him a megapack of antibacterial wipes- but this incident with Frankie was already setting him off again.

“Do you suppose she contracted an illness during our… excursion into the past?” Chase was saying. “There are many diseases that were prevalent in the 1950s that her immune system would not be prepared to deal with- should we perhaps take Cody to see a medical doctor as well?”

Chief put up a hand to stop him before he actually went to go find Cody. “Before we jump to any conclusions, why don’t we call Doc and ask him what her symptoms are?”

Chase shifted his weight minutely, processing the suggestion in a matter of seconds. “That would require less effort on our part, yes. And Doctor Greene is a capable scientist; he would notice and catalog any symptoms she displayed quite accurately. But…” He trailed off.

To Chief’s credit, only a _slight_ flash of exasperation twanged through him. “But?”

The bot shifted his weight again, almost seeming… sheepish? “A scan and a study of the scan could more accurately determine Francine’s exact diagnosis. Sometimes not all symptoms are displayed or secondary symptoms could obscure the true nature of the illness- correct?”

Chief really did heave a sigh this time, but it was light and solely through his nostrils. “That’s right. You know what? I’ve been meaning to talk to Doc anyways, and we’re not on patrol today. Why don’t we drive up there and see them?”

The police car was fully transformed before he even finished suggesting the trip.

\---

The good things about working from home, Doc supposed, were that when his daughter needed to stay home sick, he could conduct research _and_ make her soup and hot chocolate. Also, that he could wear his pajamas into the office.

Luckily, the poor girl wasn’t too terribly ill, just sick enough to get out of school for maybe a day, or two (depending on how much homework she wanted to make up), and she was perfectly happy to stay in bed and watch movies for now. For that, Doc thanked his lucky asterisms; he wasn’t sure he could handle her falling deathly ill so soon after the incident with the time machine.

He didn’t dwell on the bad that could have been, but rather continued about his work with his thankfulness in the back of his mind and his latest project in the forefront. A physics book sat precariously close to the stove while he grilled himself up a cheese sandwich, humming one of those new songs Frankie and every other kid her in her class couldn’t stop singing.

Thankfully he had already turned the stove off when he heard the doorbell, otherwise who knew what misfortune would have fallen upon the already beleaguered lab. After carefully transferring the sandwich from pan to plate so that one side didn’t burn to a crisp while he was gone, Doc went to answer it.

“Charlie!” He greeted warmly, rearing back in faux surprise for effect and grinning. “What brings you here? I specifically didn’t set anything on fire just for you and Kade today!”

Chief returned the grin. “That’s very thoughtful of you Doc. No, I’m not here on business. How’s Frankie doing? Cody said she was sick.”

Doc didn’t let his confusion reach his face. “She is, but nothing major as far as I can tell. She’s mostly just happy to get out of school for the day.”

Chief nodded. “Good, that’s good.” His eyes flicked to the side slightly, but he didn’t say anything else.

After a beat, Doc said with some bemusement, “You could have just called if you were worried, Charlie.”

At that, Chief sighed, which only deepened Doc’s confusion. “You know I love Frankie, Doc, but. Well, see, I- we-” He sighed again. “Well, I’m not the reason we drove up here.” With that, he stepped to the side and pushed the door open a little further so Doc could see who was standing next to him. Doc adjusted himself to do so- and then adjusted again, surprised.

Just to the side of the door stood one of the Rescue Bots, leaning down only slightly to compensate for the height disparity. “Hello doctor.”

“Ah…” Inexplicably, Doc’s mouth went a bit dry and he had to search for words. “Hello there!”

Since the children and the robots had returned from the past and Chief had confessed their secret to him, Doc had had scant chances to speak with any of them- robots or Burnses. It had only been a few weeks since the incident, but even still Doc felt that aliens living amongst them was a secret so big that it hardly felt real. He had only spoken with their leader- Optimus? the big non-rescue-bot- briefly to assure that the doctor understood that it was still very much a _secret_ and that he was not at liberty to discuss it with anyone else, something Doc had assured him he understood quite well, especially when a giant robot was asking it of him.

“Hello.” The robot repeated when no other words were forthcoming. “I am Chase.”

“Of course, of course.” Doc hadn’t officially met this bot yet- Chase- despite how often he saw him around, but now Doc questioned that he had ever really seen _any_ of the bots around at all. Without his visor pulled down to obscure his face, the bot looked so much more alive than he did when he was out on a rescue or seen on TV. His eyes were as bright and intriguing as any humans, and even his carefully composed facial features alluded to a more complex thought process than any average onlooker could guess at. _An alien_.

“I’d invite you inside, but I’m afraid that might be more trouble than it’s worth.” Doc said dryly.

“That’s quite alright, doctor.” The bot assured while Chief half-grinned out of Chase’s sight. “Would you mind if I go around the side to speak with Francine?”

“Ah- no. I wouldn’t mind at all. Do you know where her window is?”

“I do not.” He confessed.

“No matter.” Doc leaned slightly to point vaguely around the corner. “On this side, third window down, second floor.”

The bot nodded once and uttered his thanks softly before moving purposefully towards the side of the house. After he disappeared, the two humans regarded each other.

“Would _you_ like to come inside?”

\---

Their visit ran a bit longer than Chief was planning, as he got wrapped up in catching up with Doc, and Chase got roped into watching part of a badly dubbed kung fu movie through Frankie’s window while she explained the parts of martial arts she thought were coolest. When they left, Chase dutifully notified Chief that he expected Frankie to make a full recovery, based on preliminary scans and a quick database consultation, to which Chief replied that he was relieved.

Maybe the Burnses still rolled their eyes whenever Chase fussed over a few stray sneezes, and maybe the drive up the lab was pointless and based on paranoia, but in the end, Frankie was back in school by Friday, and the Greenes came over Saturday night to meet the bots officially, so maybe the trip up to the lab hadn’t been such a bad idea after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this seemed longer in word. wtf


	3. Small Blessings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quick missing scene from Small Blessings (season 1, the one where they done got shrunk).

Though Kade, Graham, and Dani had scoured nearly every inch of the Hall's floor, all they could find were puddles of sprinkler water and discarded groceries littering the ground haphazardly. The rescue bots were just gone.

  
After the first few minutes of the search turned up nothing, they fell into an uncomfortable silence.

  
Just outside the Hall, there was the unmistakable sound of a bot transforming. Chase and Chief had dropped Evan and Myles off with Barney at the jail, and had returned to help search for the bots- or any clues as to what might have happened to them. Graham, for one, felt his heart sink as Chase ducked back into the hall.

  
"Anything?" Chief asked as he stepped inside. Silence and vague headshakes were the only answers. He rubbed the bridge of his nose between a thumb and a forefinger, saying nothing.

  
Eventually, Kade couldn't stand the silence anymore. "This is all my fault." He shook his head.

  
"Don't- don't say that, you're not the one that, that did this." Dani reached over to pat his shoulder- but drew up short when she noticed Chase walking towards them with a decidedly displeased expression on his face.

  
"Allow Kade to take responsibility for his actions. This _is_ his fault." Chase stopped only a few feet in front of them, and loomed over Kade. The fireman steeled his expression- he was no stranger to getting told off and, all things considered, he was willing to let Chase rip him a new one.

  
"You have put Heatwave in danger more than once for your own selfish reasons, Kade- and that is certainly bad enough- but now your actions have allowed real harm to come to more than one of my team members." Chase didn't raise his voice, and didn't even sound particularly angry. His words were pure fact, really, but there was a thick iciness to them, and it was just a little bit frightening how deadly Chase could make his calm tone sound. "Perhaps if you cannot learn to follow orders, you should not be on this team."

  
Chief appeared at Kade's side, hands raised. "Now Chase, I know you're upset, but Kade can't be blamed for what Evan and Myles did."

  
Chase stared down at them, and didn't move.

  
"Why don't you take a step outside, partner?" Chief suggested. "Get some fresh air."

  
Chase stood stock-still for a moment more, and then turned on his heel and walked back out the front door at an even pace. Kade dropped his gaze to the floor, but not before Chief cast him an unreadable glance. He felt Dani's hand on his shoulder.

  
"He's just upset." Graham assured. "And we'll find them."

  
Sure, he was upset, Kade thought. But wasn't he right too?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> may write a companion piece for this, we'll see (i am tired now i also wrote something else i'll be posting). it isnt kades fault but chase is upset :c


	4. Land of the Living

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> vent chapter, kinda short

Boulder stared up at the stars, and he felt empty.

  
They were beautiful, sure, the bare sliver of a moon dim enough to show off the full splendor of the sky above them. It was a lovely view, by all accounts, but- but Boulder couldn't help but think about where Cybertron was up there, and then-

  
And then he felt empty.

  
There were plenty of things he could have been thinking about- the destruction, the death, the anxiety, and the terrible certainty that everyone he knew was probably gone- but his processor was as empty as his spark felt. It was like there was a blockage in his neural pathways; he stared and stared, and for a long time, he thought of nothing.

  
He was only dimly aware of the sight before him, the stars and crescent moon nothing more than dreamlike wallpaper in the deserted room that was his body. He was vaguely aware of his jaw clenching and beginning to ache the longer he held it like that, but for the most part he was gone.

  
Just gone.

  
At some point, who knew how long later (internal chronometer what?), he felt something on his shoulder, and finally, _finally_ stirred and glanced to his right.

  
Blades was standing there, lightly running his hand up and down Boulder's arm. He brightened when Boulder sluggishly focused his optics on him.

  
"Welcome back!" Blades said, cheerfully but oh-so quietly. "Nice to have you inhabiting a body again."

  
His vocal components didn't seem to be firing right. It took him an age and a half to reply. "Sorry."

  
Blades shrugged. "It's whatever. You wanna watch some early morning cartoons with me?"

  
Boulder glanced back out at the horizon, and saw the barest hint of pink there.

  
"Sure." He agreed, grateful, and followed Blades back into the bunker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do u ever just get sad n dissociate. i do and now boulder does too, luckily boulder has some a+ friends to help him out


	5. Old Wounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just a lil shortfic for a weird headcanon i have

"Make sure you stir it real well before you eat it, otherwise it's gonna be nasty." Dani was explaining, looking like she was a few moments away from leaning over and stirring the yogurt herself.

Cody nodded and stirred compliantly, giving Dani his most neutral smile. She returned it, and turned back to the tablet she was reading from. Cody turned a skeptical look on the small cup of yogurt before him, and took a quick bite. It was alright, he supposed- the greek yogurt was a little more bitter than the Yoplait stuff he was used to, but it actually wasn't bad. Honestly though, the food Dani bought was always better than the food she made. Cody shouldn't have doubted her.

"Is your homework done?" Dani asked after a few moments of silence.

"Yup." Cody replied after swallowing another mouthful of yogurt. He figured the faster he finished eating it, the sooner Dani would let him go downstairs. He had promised to help Boulder mix some paints, and he'd like to do it sooner rather than later, even though he knew Boulder wouldn't mind waiting.

"Alright, well, after you finish that you can go." She sighed dramatically. "I won't torture you any longer."

Cody would have said he didn't consider it torture, really; he knew she was only trapping him in the living room because she wanted to make sure he was doing alright, and that she sometimes did that by interrogating him and force-feeding him healthy foods. He _would_ have said that, but he was too busy shoveling the rest of the yogurt in his face, cleaning his spoon and waving bye to his sister. Dani rolled her eyes as he hurried out.

He took the fire pole down to the garage not only because it was faster but because it felt cooler to do so. Not even Kade used the thing; Cody was beginning to suspect they only left it in for his entertainment. Not that he was complaining, mind you.

Blades was the only bot he saw in the garage; the two waved at each other from across the room. Cody continued down into the bunker.

He didn't see Boulder when he stepped out of the elevator, just Heatwave. Maybe the bot was in the hangar or in one of the side rooms, then. Cody began to cross the bunker to the bookcase on the far side, eyeing Heatwave- but the firebot didn't look up; he had a pained look on his face, and he was staring rather intently into the middle distance while he massaged his right wrist. Cody slowed.

"Hey Heatwave!" He called.

Heatwave, startled out of his trance, froze in his ministrations. "Oh, hey Cody." His tone was subdued.

"Are you alright?" Cody asked, stopping finally a few feet away from Heatwave's legs.

Heatwave seemed almost chagrinned, like he had been caught doing something wrong. His hand fell to his side limply. "I'm fine."

Cody frowned deeply to assure Heatwave that he wasn't convinced. Heatwave averted his gaze from the expression. "Does your arm hurt?" Cody asked, gaze flicking briefly to the arm he had been massaging a moment before.

"No."

There was a brief pause, and Heatwave made the mistake of looking down at Cody's disapproving expression. He looked away again. "Alright, maybe a little."

"What's wrong?" Cody let up on the guilt-tripping expression after Heatwave divulged the truth. "Did you hurt it on a mission?"

Heatwave laughed briefly, humorlessly. "No. I'm fine, really."

Cody waited patiently.

" _Really_."

He continued waiting, and gave the firetruck an encouraging smile.

Heatwave sighed. "It just hurts sometimes, alright? I'm fine."

Cody glanced around the bunker; still no Boulder. He wouldn't mind if he waited here, right? "What happened?" He probed. "Dad has a bad knee that acts up sometimes. Did you hurt your arm a long time ago?"

Heatwave gave Cody an opaque look, and shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, sort of. This isn't my arm. Not really. It's prosthetic."

Cody stared up at him, his mouth hanging open just the tiniest bit. "Wait, really?"

"Really."

The young Burns screwed up his eyes and stared hard at Heatwave's arms, alternating between each one. They were identical- or identical enough that Cody's eyes couldn't pick out the difference. "It doesn't look prosthetic."

Heatwave snorted. "Cybertronian prosthetics are a little more advanced than human ones. Not even other Cybertronians can tell the difference sometimes." He started massaging his wrist again absentmindedly. "Sometimes it doesn't synch up very well to the rest of my body and gets a little tingly. I can't feel it as well as my other arm. And sometimes-" Here he shook his head. "It just doesn't feel right sometimes."

Cody sat in silence and frowned, suddenly feeling a little out of his depth. He didn't know anything about prosthetics, only that sometimes they worked on new models up at Doc's lab. He wasn't sure that Heatwave was in the mood to talk about it either, but the only way to know would be to ask. Plus, Cody had probably always been a little more curious than he should have been.

"What happened to your real arm?" He found himself asking.

There was another pause, and then Heatwave sighed. "It was an accident. A long time ago."

"What was an accident a long time ago?" Kade's voice suddenly called. "Your birth?"

Cody turned a reproachful glare on his oldest brother as he stepped off the elevator; Heatwave merely turned his now-dead optics to the middle distance and dropped his hands to his sides once more.

Kade grinned at them both, looking self-satisfied. "Come on Heatwave, we have a call."

Heatwave moved wordlessly over to the lift, looking exhausted beyond words with his partner already. Kade followed him a moment later- but not before he ruffled his younger brother's hair. Cody made a displeased noise, but he was already gone, the lift taking both firemen up and out of sight.

Cody watched them go. Absently, he wondered if Boulder knew anything about Heatwave's arm, and he resumed his search for the bulldozer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if I'll do anything more with this idea, I just thought it was something interesting to touch on!


	6. Family Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blades is a little homesick, to say the least.

_The Burnses are a nice family_ , Blades thought to himself. _They really love each other._

The thought only made him feel worse.

The humans were all upstairs now, asleep or trying to get to sleep, but they had spent the majority of the evening down in the bunker playing some board game with the bots. They couldn’t pick up the tiny pieces, so they all teamed up with a human to play the game with.

The rules of the game weren’t terribly complex or exciting, but it quickly became apparent to the bots that the fun part of the game was not the board- it was the activities of the people playing it.

Blades’s favorite part of the game had been watching Dani and Heatwave flip their lids every time he and Cody or Boulder and Graham snatched victory from their hands by sending them back a space or stealing important cards from them. The utter outrage that erupted when Chase and Kade, of all teams, creamed all of them had been nothing short of hilarious. Overall, ‘family game night’ had gone really well, with no serious fights breaking out and everyone leaving just a tad more cheer than they had begun the game with.

Even Blades had bid the Burns kids goodnight without a hint of sadness in his mind, but now, _now-_

Now he could feel the claws of despair winding around his spark and sinking in, draining the warmth from his body.

He sat in the corner, near the TV, on the other side of the couch, curled against the wall. The TV wasn’t on, and he focused his gaze slightly above it to avoid looking at his reflection. He heaved a sigh.

He felt so _pathetic_.

It was the silly family bonding, he supposed. Most of the time, it was what it was, but sometimes- sometimes someone would say or do something and Blades would think, hey, that reminds me of _this_ \- and it would all go downhill from there. He’d get stuck in a loop, thinking about things that had been, then thinking about things that would probably never be ever again, then thinking about how _silly_ he was, how stupid it was to dwell on the past, but he couldn’t just forget about them-

Then he would think, _It’s been so long. They’re probably gone. They probably forgot about you._

It hurt. A lot.

Heatwave walked into Blades’s line of sight, and the helicopter shrank against the wall. He didn’t want to talk to Heatwave, and internally he cringed at what Heatwave might say to him. He couldn’t have anything good to say about the pathetic sight before him.

There was a long pause while Heatwave just stood there. Blades couldn’t take it. _Go ahead, say something. I’m a wimp._

“What’s wrong?” He asked finally.

Blades squirmed, and didn’t look at him. He only spoke after he felt like he could safely answer without his voice cracking- it felt like an eternity.

“I miss my brothers.” He whispered.

Heatwave didn’t say anything, and didn’t move. Blades couldn’t look up at him, but focused rather intently on the wall instead.

After a long moment- he didn’t know how long- he sensed Heatwave moving around to the couch and sitting down. The TV clicked on, and the small side room filled with the electromagnetic buzzing that was nearly undetectable to humans but was practically the most soothing sound in the world to Blades at this point. Some humans on the TV started talking a moment later.

“I’m sorry.” Heatwave said, somewhat awkwardly, and then handed Blades the remote.

Blades looked at the remote, then at Heatwave. Heatwave avoided direct optic contact.

Blades scrubbed a servo down his face, and then took the remote from Heatwave wordlessly. He flipped through the channels mechanically for a moment, skimming the cartoons only briefly (the cartoons on at this time of night were hit or miss), before settling on the Food Network and dropping the remote.

He expected Heatwave to complain, change it, or leave (Heatwave hated human food and human food accessories), but he didn’t do anything. He just sat there and watched humans get overly dramatic about food, like it was no big deal.

Blades regarded him skeptically out of the corner of his optic for a moment, before he decided to let sleeping dogs lie and just watch the show.

By the time the episode was over, Blades was probably sitting a little too close to Heatwave, with his head a little too close to leaning on the firebot’s shoulder- but Heatwave didn’t say anything about that either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well I've written a sad shortfic about all 4 rescue bots now, I guess that means I can write something happy now?
> 
> haha yeah right


	7. Wrong Number

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Raf picks up a call for the Autobots while team Prime is out. It's not who he expects it to be.

It was weird, being alone in the silo. It had always been big but somehow now, when there were no bots milling about in it, it seemed a lot more open- and _huge_.

Raf tilted his head back and stared up at the ceiling. It practically seemed to go on forever just vertically, never mind the ridiculous square footage. He supposed it had to be, to house a bunch of giant aliens. He dropped his eyes back down to his laptop and tried not to feel agoraphobic.

He would only be alone in the silo for a little while longer, he reminded himself to assuage his anxious mind. Jack was at work and Miko was trapped in detention (again), the bots had been called out on a mission, and Ratchet had grudgingly agreed to pick Miko up from school since Bulkhead was indisposed. It would take Ratchet awhile to drive back, but Miko’s sentence was almost served- they should be back soon.

Raf busied himself with some homework. With Ratchet gone, he had been entrusted to monitor the communication system in case Optimus or anyone else called in, but there had been no such calls yet. Raf expected Optimus might call in with a status report soon, but until then there really wasn’t anything-

The comm system pinged suddenly, and an active transmission request popped up on Ratchet’s monitor, and, half a beat later, on Raf’s laptop. The boy started. Alright, maybe Optimus was calling with a status report now…

He activated the request, and it was immediately apparent that it was not Optimus. The number was heavily encrypted- much more private than civilian restricted numbers.

 _It’s probably Agent Fowler, then_. He thought, and felt a flutter of nervousness in his stomach. He wasn’t doing anything wrong; the agent just had a demeanor about him that always made Raf feel like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Certain that he would be met with the telltale furrowed brow and accusation of ‘Prime!’, Raf accepted the transmission request without running the number through the identifying decryption process.

It was not Fowler.

The call opened up in a new screen on his laptop, and it was quickly filled by a distinctly non-human face. Reddish orange optics _glared_ up at Raf from a dark gray metal face, and the small human froze.

Who was this? He had never seen this bot before. Could it be a Decepticon? Why would a ‘con be calling-

His heartrate slowed a little bit when he noticed the prominent Autobot symbol on the bot’s chest- and the mirrored look of confusion on his face.

“Who are you?” The bot demanded.

“Who-” Raf’s voice cracked, and he coughed to clear it. “Who are you?”

The bot fell silent and studied the human for a moment. Raf, suddenly feeling self-conscious under the examination, squirmed a bit in his seat. Who was this? He hadn’t been expecting a _new_ Autobot to call him while the others were out. What was he supposed to do?

At the human’s obvious discomfort, the robot’s expression softened almost imperceptibly. “Are you… Raf?”

It was Raf’s turn to look suspicious. “How do you know my name?”

“Bumblebee told me about you.” He explained. “My name is Heatwave, I’m the leader of the Rescue Bots.”

“Rescue Bots?” Raf echoed. “What’s a Rescue Bot?”

“Sort of like an Autobot.” Heatwave said. “Except, you know, we’re all rescue workers. I’m a firefighter.”

Raf studied the bot for a moment. It sort of looked like the bot might transform into a firetruck, actually- and if Bee had told this bot about him, it was probably okay to talk to him, right? He had no idea there was another Autobot team on Earth. He had just assumed Team Prime was the only one, and no one had ever said anything to make him think otherwise.

He shook his head, suddenly remembering what he was supposed to be doing. “Okay, what were you calling about? Optimus and the team aren’t here right now, and I can’t activate the ground bridge for you, so, uh, sorry about that.”

“It’s fine.” Heatwave said. “When Ratchet is back, can you tell him that our test with the synth-en went... poorly? The lawnmower we put it in destroyed a building. Boulder will send him a data packet probably tomorrow.”

Raf stared, but recovered quickly. “Oh, yeah, sure, no problem!”

“Thanks.” Heatwave regarded him for a moment more, before sighing heavily. “Well, I need to go help clean that mess up. I’ll… see you around, I guess.”

“Bye.” Raf replied, and then found himself staring at a blank screen as the transmission cut out.

He hadn’t realized he’d been leaning towards his screen, and reclined back in his chair. _Rescue Bots_. Who knew? Their leader seemed nice enough- and seemed to have talked with Team Prime more than once, if he had had conversations with Bee about their human companions and was testing synth-en for Ratchet. How long had they been on Earth? Why had no one ever said anything?

He stared thoughtfully at the screen. Maybe they didn’t stay with Team Prime because they were rescue workers- there wasn’t a lot a rescue worker could do against a Decepticon, he supposed. Maybe Optimus was keeping them away from everyone so that he had a last resort if the team ever needed a save.

He pulled his homework back up. Either way, he supposed, their leader had seemed nice enough. Maybe he could ask Bumblebee about them later- trade stories about them as payment for gossiping about him to strange Autobots.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a lil shortfic about how tfp and tfrb people may have interacted with each other! also, the bit abt synth-en is just a lil idea. maybe ratchet wanted to keep working on the formula but knew it wasn't safe; the rescue bots have access to more advanced technology and would probably be safer about it than ratchet, so! they're good science candidates


	8. How It's Made

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Graham can't sleep. Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> many thanks to chase (bumblechae) for suggesting cuddles and how its made. im sorry theres not more cuddling

Graham rolled over and stared morosely at the red digital clock on his nightstand.

_2:21 AM_

Well, that was that, he supposed. Sleeping was a no-go at this point, after nearly four hours of ceaseless tossing and turning. If anything, Graham felt more awake now than he did when he first got into bed earlier that night. It was just one of those things, he supposed. His bed just wasn’t _comfortable_ like it was when you were actually tired and wholeheartedly wanted to sleep. There was no point wiggling around fruitlessly until dawn, though; time to get up and make something of the rest of the night.

He rolled out of bed and, after some thought, pulled on his tennis shoes without fully untying them. He could go for a walk, maybe, and plus if he wasn’t in the house that reduced the risk of waking anyone else up. He was fairly certain he had heard Dani leaving with Blades earlier to patrol, but he didn’t want to run into her, either, since she would undoubtedly start to ask why he was up, if anything was wrong, etc…

Graham slipped out of his room and gently shut the door behind him. Alright, so maybe this wasn’t the first night this week he hadn’t been able to sleep. Actually- was it Friday? Saturday morning? Could he now say he hadn’t been able to sleep at a reasonable hour for the majority of the week? He could, but why would he? That would only get his dad on his case, and he would hate to make him worry. It was probably just all those long nights of studying messing up his internal clock, it wasn’t anything to worry about, or even anything that needed serious involvement to fix.

After some debate he opted to take the elevator into the garage instead of using the front door. He wasn’t sure he had his house key in the pocket of the jacket he had just pulled off the coat rack, and 2 am wasn’t really the ideal time to get stuck outside of the house.

The elevator was slow; that meant it made mercifully little noise, but sometimes Graham wondered if putting a radio in it would make the rides less tedious. Sighing, he leaned his forehead against the morning-cold metal of the elevator’s wall and closed his eyes.

He sure wished he could get some sleep, but it just wasn’t in the cards. Maybe if he could start his shifts later in the day he would be able to get a decent amount of sleep- or maybe if he stayed awake for a whole day and then went to bed at a reasonable time, he would be able to fix his internal clock problem entirely.

Maybe if he could get his anxious mind to quiet down, he could get some _restful_ sleep for once.

The elevator door pinged open, and Graham trudged out of it tiredly. He couldn’t afford to be tired and sluggish at work, he knew. What he didn’t know was what to do about it. If he knew the perfect formula for getting some rest, he would have put it to use about eight years ago, and maybe saved himself some trouble.

 _A walk will be nice._ He thought as he crossed the garage. It would wake him up, at least, and when the coffee shop opened in a few hours he could grab a couple shots of espresso-

He paused, the unmistakable glow of the TV in the corner catching his eye. He backtracked a bit to see who could possibly be up at this hour (besides him, of course)-

 _Boulder_. Of course. The bots didn’t sleep; or, if they did, they did it far less often than their human counterparts did. He should have realized they would be up and about still.

Boulder was seated quietly in front of the TV, apparently by himself and totally enraptured in whatever he was watching. He didn’t seem to notice Graham awkwardly watching him from the center of the garage.

Graham studied him for a moment, and then glanced at the door. He bit his lip. Boulder hadn’t noticed him yet, so he could feasibly still escape into the night for a few hours and avoid social interaction, but something kept his feet planted firmly where they were. He could still go for a walk later, right? Boulder was his partner, after all; he might as well say hi to him before he left, in case he needed to find him later for an emergency call.

Decision made, Graham turned on his heel and made his way over to the corner of the room.

Boulder didn’t look up until Graham was a few measly feet from him- and brightened instantly. Graham paused awkwardly and gave the bot a quick smile. He was always a little taken aback by how happy the green bot was to see him all the time.

“Hi, Graham.” Boulder greeted, and then frowned. “Is there an emergency?”

“No, no.” He replied quickly. “I just wanted to say hi.”

“Oh. You aren’t sleeping?”

Graham suddenly shrank under Boulder’s gaze. “Uh, no, I wasn’t feeling very tired. I was going to go for a walk instead, actually.”

Boulder considered this for a moment, and made a face. “Aren’t you usually tired? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Graham assured, ( _too quickly_ , he berated himself). “Uh, you know, sometimes it’s just hard to fall asleep, because of, um-” _mental disquiet_ “-uh, naturally occurring chemical imbalances?”

“Oh.” Graham couldn’t tell if Boulder was satisfied with that answer or not, and looked away- Graham did the same. Both of their gazes landed on the TV.

It looked like Boulder had been watching the science channel- an observation that hardly surprised Graham. It was doing late-night reruns of How It’s Made, it seemed.

Boulder watched Graham watching the TV. “Have you seen this show? It’s-” He paused, then; “Fascinating.” He finished almost sheepishly.

“I’ve seen a few episodes, yeah.” Graham admitted, relieved that the subject had shifted away from his sleeping patterns. “I always get sucked into it. It’s hard to stop watching.”

“You’re telling me.” Boulder said severely. “I think I’m on hour three now.”

Graham couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“Do you want to watch this episode with me?” Boulder asked excitedly. “Before you go on your walk, that is. They’re making, uh- stackable chips, I think.”

Graham glanced back up at the green bot. He thought of the chill early morning air outside, and he thought of the too-warm and too-soft bed waiting for him upstairs. They could both wait.

“Sure, why not?”

Boulder shuffled over a bit so that Graham could climb onto the couch and take a seat next to him. The human did so, and turned his attention back to the show. They were indeed making stackable chips- and Boulder began to question him about them immediately.

After sufficiently explaining the appeal of chips that could stack in a tube, Graham was relieved of his duty to explain minor human trivialities, and Boulder only occasionally commented to him.

As the second episode rolled in, Graham couldn’t help but note that he felt- content. The couch was comfortable, the show was mindless enough that he didn’t have to put his tired brain to work but intriguing enough that he didn’t want to get up and leave, and Boulder was basically an oversized space heater; they were close enough that the heat the robot’s body produced bathed the human in not-unpleasant warmth.

At some point, Graham realized that his eyes had closed and that the sound of Boulder’s voice talking to him was just a soft rumble somewhere to his side. He didn’t care. He fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOU GUYS RESCUE BOTS SEASON 4 IS ABOUT TO AIR. ITS LIKE 8 HOURS AWAY. YOU GUYS I AM PUMPED


End file.
